Their income isn't as stable as typically they might be working 2 jobs and the 2nd job fluctuates in hours and pay putting pressure on consistently paying the rent every month.I hope this helps because like others I have been in the trenches myself at midnight working on vacant units getting ready to re-rent.

My point is that the $1200 annual cash flow from a property does not protect you from market fluctuations or improperly purchased property.

Remember to calculate a fluctuation of rents in your calculations and you can purchase in any market.

That way you can house-hack and girlfriend-hack depending on both market’s fluctuations!

They are bought and sold at asset value minus fees, unlike public REIT's which can trade at premium and fluctuate between discount and premium due to trading on the stock exchanges.

I've tracked it for a while, and the nearest I can gauge is that Zillow can fluctuate up or down very rapidly based on some formula the software uses to calculate their "Zestimates".

Construction cost is messy and tends to fluctuate anyway, even when you always rehab the same type of house like we do.Your location matters probably more than the year.

HELOC rates today seem to be in the 8-s, anyways HELOC is an adjustable rate mortgage and will fluctuate up and down depending on the market rate.

Their income fluctuates by the job and the seasons.

I know this number fluctuates, but you even said yourself that it comes out to ~2.6%, so why not include ~3% for maintenance.  2.